


The End of a Golden Age

by skyesparklez



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Character Death, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Identity Reveal, Immortality, Immortals, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Poor Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Poor Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24207802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyesparklez/pseuds/skyesparklez
Summary: With the powers of the Miraculous, comes a secret.Written for the prompt: I didn't know what to do, I just knew it needed to stop. Grave after grave after grave. I got tired of burying my friends.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 3
Kudos: 74





	The End of a Golden Age

She didn’t know what to do, she just knew it needed to stop. It had been so long since she adorned the super heroine persona Ladybug, fighting akumas sent from Hawkmoth. Had she known the consequences of the earrings, she’d never have put them on. The joy of saving others wasn’t worth this pain.

Master Fu never told her and Chat what the consequences of using their Miraculouses were. Maybe he would have. Unfortunately Hawkmoth had gotten to him first, killing the old Guardian. He probably didn’t tell them many things. Still, she thought, this should have been addressed right away.

No one had informed the two superheroes of the longevity of their lives. It wasn’t noticeable at first; their friends made jokes about good genes. Even going so far as to say ‘you haven’t aged a day!’ She had laughed it away. After years it became more noticeable. She was thirty-seven and she still looked sixteen. It wasn’t just good genes.

That was how her friends learned the truth. It was Alya first; she had her suspicions ever since the Pharaoh akuma all those years ago. Thankfully Alya was accepting and understanding of her secret. Next was Nino, who overheard their second half of the conversation. He just laughed it off, thanking her in the end for bringing him and Alya together. She didn’t know how to respond, sputtering out a broken ‘you’re welcome’.

Chat was next. They were patrolling Paris when he brought up their aging problem. It was an awkward discussion that led to the big question: ‘can I know who you are under the mask?’ Both of them were scared; they were stagnant while the world was moving around them. She agreed to learning his identity and vice versa.

To be honest, it wasn’t much of a surprise to her that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste. She was still his friend, she had noticed he didn’t seem to be aging either. He wasn’t surprised to see her behind the mask either it seemed. They smiled- at least they weren’t alone. If they didn’t age, at least they had each other.

They got married two years later, inviting al of their old school friends. The joking comments about their age that once made them laugh now caused them to flinch. They couldn’t say it was because they were superheroes. All the same, they had plenty of fun during the wedding. Many claimed they saw it coming. The two would share a knowing look; it had seemingly been written in fate. The two celebrated well into the night after everyone had left.

They became the guardians of the many Miraculouses, protecting them against the ever unrelenting attacks of Hawkmoth. The attacks got less frequent, however, surprising the two superheroes. Eventually they received a brooch in the mail with a simple note: ‘I cannot hold this power anymore. Hawkmoth is dead.’ With the note came a hurried call from Natalie saying Adrien’s father had passed. Dots connected. Tears were shed. They moved on.

The problem of their aging didn’t hit them until the first of their friends died. It was Alex and Kim; both had been on-duty police officers chasing down a murderer. The murderer was cornered by the two astounding officers. Their friends didn’t know he had a weapon until it was too late. The murderer shot them both and barely was arrested by Chat Noir and Ladybug taking him into custody.

The funeral was solemn. They went as their civilian selves. Everyone was crying; they deserved much better than what they got. The weather was neither bleak nor sunny. No mood could be read from the sky. It was simply as if it were another day in Paris. To many it was. To the two superheroes, it was catastrophic. 

Adrien would be forced to watch his wife work herself into hysteria, crying about how this would happen to all of their friends eventually. No matter what he did, it couldn’t cheer up the devastated woman. He would sit by her side and cry with her. They would hold each other close to their chests, savoring the preciousness of their relationship. The fact that they would at the very least have each other.

As the years went by, the two superheroes were forced to move away. Their looks were too young to be brushed off anymore. It was a tear-filled goodbye, with only two people present to witness the two superheroes’ farewell. Alya and Nino waved them goodbye as they left. It was heartbreaking for them to leave- though they didn’t go far. It was to a little cottage outside the large city of Paris. They wanted to stay close in case they needed to defend it, despite the years since Hawkmoth had died. They weren’t really needed anymore.

Years passed much too quickly for the two; thirty years passed before they truly got to see Alya and Nino again. They invited the pair to visit. Alya and Nino agreed, bringing a surprise with them. With the long since married couple came their daughter and grandson. The superheroes were shocked- had they really missed that much of their friends’ lives? Alya hugged them both with a nostalgic fondness. It was hard for them to talk about much, it seemed like the now bordering on elderly pair had truly moved on with their lives. They were not invited back, for fear that the two superheroes would not be able to stand it.

They received messages of their friends passing one by one: Chloe, Sabrina, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Max, Mylene, Nathanael. They were invited to each and every funeral, but they were too scared to go in case someone were to recognize them. They were supposed to be in their seventies at this point. They couldn’t risk it.

The first time the two stepped back into the city of Paris was when Nino passed. Alya called the two, her voice weary and breathy. She begged them to go to the funeral; she needed the support of her friends. They both agreed, feeling remorse that they had not spent more time with Nino in the end.

Seeing Alya was wonderful for the both of them. She looked wonderful. She stood tall, walking briskly and smiling at the two superheroes. They marveled at her appearance. Her hair had grayed, wrinkles covering her face. That was only to be expected of course; she was ninety-four after all. She grabbed their hands each individually, personally thanking them and making them promise to never leave each other. They agreed heartily.

The second time was for Alya’s funeral. Alya’s grandson was the one to invite the two, having known their secret. He was at least thirty now, smiling at the two who couldn’t be more than a faint image in the recesses of his mind. He thanked them for coming. The conversation was terse and short. The two superheroes did not stay long. They didn’t go back to Paris after that.

They lived for hundreds of years, guarding the Miraculouses and eventually teaching others they deemed worthy about them. Soon there were no more Miraculouses in their care, all out in the world making a difference. They watched the technology change, people change, culture change. Strangest of all for them was the legend that the children they trained always told them. Their own story in Paris. It seemed they were not forgotten.

It was inevitable for a villain to appear from the children of the Miraculouses. The two knew it would happen eventually, lamenting at the fall of one of their own, though they decided to let the children deal with it. They were the new generation. They could grow and explore their powers using this. 

They didn’t expect for each and every one of them to be killed. They were the only ones left, the fallen child having died after a fateful battle with three other Miraculous holders. Ladybug and Chat Noir walked through the battlefield openly in costume, letting Paris see them for the first time. They were mourning. The people of Paris were celebrating the return of Ladybug and Chat Noir, famed heroes. The superheroes only stayed long enough to gather each and every last Miraculous before leaving.

They decided to hide the Miraculouses.

They still had not aged. They determined the only way to die was to pass on the Miraculouses or to be killed. Neither seemed a good option. Both resigned themselves to an eternity alone. At least they had each other. 

Of course, that peace did not last. Someone had found the box of Miraculouses (though it was not well hidden) and stole the butterfly Miraculous. This Hawkmoth seemed stronger than the last, even deadlier as well. He didn’t have a purpose other than to kill Ladybug and Chat Noir. They were involved in a long battle, of which ended poorly. Chat had been struck a fatal blow.

Ladybug had panicked, killing the second Hawkmoth she had faced almost instantly after that. She held Adrien as he wheezed, whispering words of love to him. He tried his best to reciprocate, but eventually he simply stopped. Stopped breathing, stopped talking, stopped living. The lone superhero let out a mournful cry.

She took the Miraculouses after burying Adrien by their cottage, deciding to scatter them across the Earth in deadly and hidden locations. Praying they would never be found. She would place a warning with each, talking of the consequences of using these horrible, life-ruining objects. She thought back on her life.

Grave after grave after grave.

She was tired of burying her friends.


End file.
